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about involving stakeholders from the beginning of the process and throughout the
journey” (Allen & Blackwell, 2021, p. 8). Doing so requires facilitating group-
process strategies. For example, the Nominal Group Technique (Varga-Atkins et al.,
2017) is a well-organized process that includes self-reflection, the opportunity for
each participant to have input, and a way to determine the priorities of the group.
“The structured process of the Nominal Group Technique aims for group consensus
based on the sum of individual viewpoints” (Varga-Atkins et al., 2017, p. 291). The
following is an example of how Nominal Group Technique components may be
applied to implementation of the visioning process with representatives from three Dr. Kim M. Sekulich
is a member of Iota
stakeholder groups: faculty, parents, and community members. Chapter in Illinois State
1. The leader suggests some main categories (such as curriculum, instruction, Organization. She is an
and assessment; professional learning; communication and collaboration; associate professor and
parent and community involvement; and fiscal responsibility) as a structure program leader in the
for vision development. Revising the suggested categories and/or providing College of Education at
additional categories may occur as the visioning process develops. Concordia University
2. As a starting point, the leader identifies two categories from the many Chicago. Sekulich teaches
master’s and doctoral level
suggested and asks each participant to reflect upon and list what he or she educational leadership
values in those two categories. Focusing on two categories initially helps courses.
the process become more manageable. The process will be repeated with the
remaining categories. Kim.Sekulich@CUChicago.
3. Small groups of participants are formed. Each group includes representatives edu
from the three stakeholder groups, and each participant shares the values he
or she listed.
4. A master list is created of core values organized by category. Similar
responses may be clustered and renamed.
5. The leader asks each participant in the small group to rank each item on the
group’s master list in order of top priority (highest value) and lowest priority
(lowest value). For example, under the category of curriculum, instruction,
and assessment, the following core values might be listed: student-centered
learning, critical thinking, problem solving, engaging instruction, goal
setting, communicating, collaborating, and providing feedback. In this
example, there are eight core values that each participant ranks from highest
priority (8 points) to lowest priority (1 point).
6. A spreadsheet is created, and the points assigned by each participant are
entered into the spreadsheet. Point totals for each item are determined. The
items with the five highest point totals then become the priorities for the
small group.
7. Each small group shares its five priorities with the large group. Again, a
master list of core values is created with similar responses being clustered
and named. Each participant ranks each item on the large group master
list. Point totals are determined. The five items with the highest point total
become the priorities for the large group.
According to Varga-Atkins et al. (2017), “One of the greatest values of Nominal Group
Technique is the prioritized list produced during the session. As it is the participants
who do the coding and categorizing, the process promotes their ownership of the
results (Wilson, 1997)” (p. 291). Once priorities have been established with input
from stakeholder groups, the process of building shared understanding of core
values, mission, vision, and improvement efforts continues. Alignment of each must
be determined when making decisions about the academic program.

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